Mystery Bug Bite Lands Man In Hospital

It was just another night taking the trash to the curb in Chandler, Arizona, until Thomas Jay suddenly felt a pinch followed by the “most excruciating pain” of his life. He swatted off what looked like “a cross between a scorpion and a spider,” per Fox 10, and in just a few hours a tiny circle transformed into bruises covering his entire arm.

Jay was transferred between multiple hospitals until he reached one with a toxicology department as doctors scrambled to diagnose the problem. For now, a few weeks after the bite or sting, he is stable as they await biopsy results, reports azfamily.com.

Jay and his wife, Dee Petrov, say the care has been excellent, and that they’ve received a lot of support through their community and now on GoFundMe. (Commenters there are offering theories about the mystery bug.) They’ve also decided to enroll Jay in a case study, and to devote any funds raised above their $10,000 target toward research and education.

“Even though they may not be able to figure out what it was, they might be able to help other individuals as they learn from this situation,” he says. (A spider temporarily paralyzed one woman’s arm after biting her.)